Been there for 21 years so pretty grateful to still be there at all!
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Karen Middleton
@KarenMMiddleton
Journalist|writer|broadcaster|author. Books: An Unwinnable War - Australia in Afghanistan; Albanese-Telling it Straight I The Saturday Paper corro. Views mine.
CanberraJoined March 2009
Karen Middleton’s Tweets
Quite.
Damn you, autocorrect. 🤷🏻♀️
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
princess
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Actually, l did. I don’t get to choose what we discuss but l was asked about it towards the end. I could have said quite a bit more but we were short of time.
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Replying to @MrRexPatrick @RonniSalt and 5 others
And then didn’t say a word about it when given a national platform on insiders…. Doesn’t that tell you something?? #auspol #Insiders
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It’s $14m over 4yrs, plus $4m in the 5th year =$18m & then $4m a year thereafter until a government decides to no longer fund it.
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Replying to @AaronDodd
Thank you @MichaelPascoe01 for highlighting the story again .@KarenMMiddleton has a great article in the Saturday Paper again today . And don’t forget it’s not $18 million it’s $38 million over 5 years . Corruption to the top
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My grandfather was. And my uncle. What’s wrong with that?
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Replying to @FrankCaratti @Wendaly69992491 and 5 others
Anyone who's dad wasn't a Nationals politician you mean
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Much of it was. Did you read it?
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Replying to @RonniSalt and @KarenMMiddleton
No.
Just more salt in democracy's wounds reminding us our journalists were MIA for a decade.
That 'superb work' on Morrison's background should've been done before 2019's 'unexpected election win' FFS & his secret prosecutions really captured the MSM's attention too, didn't they?
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Midwinter Ball charity donation recipients: Rural Aid Australia; OzHarvest Australia; Fearless Women; Roundabout Canberra; Pink Elephants; Ukraine Crisis Appeal (set up by Aust Fed of Ukrainian Organisations). Anyone (with $) can bid in online charity auction. See prev tweet.
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Bids now open in charity auction linked to this yr's Press Gallery Midwinter Ball. Tennis or pool w the PM, Big Bash cricket w Oppn Lder, dinner with 4 teal MPs, dinner with Sen David Pocock, plus more. Charities listed in next tweet. Bids close Sep 7:
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This Tweet is unavailable.
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University of Canberra constitutional law professor says there is still a live question as to whether Scott Morrison’s use of a secret power to block a gas exploration project was actually lawful, writes #AusPol
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Hmm, should l demonstrate professional courtesy here or note that for someone who calls themselves an ‘analyst’ this analysis on the Morrison issue strikes me as… nah, l’ll stick with cowardly silence. 🤣👀
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Replying to @Milliganreports and @KarenMMiddleton
Karen Middleton sat politely on Insiders panels with Phil Coorey and James Campbell while they spun for Morrison
We needed brave journos to bluntly correct biased colleagues live on air
Professional courtesy from good journos allowed bad journos to create emperor Morrison.
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Actually not quite. The question was principally about Industry et al but he made comments on the others too.
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Only considered ONE ministry.. twitter.com/KarenMMiddleto…
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Yep, that’s right. It’s the constitutional convention of responsible government, being government that is responsible (& accountable) to the Parliament & the people. It’s the secrecy that’s the problem there. Can’t be properly responsible if people don’t even know yr the minister
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
Responsible Government does not mean a govt behaving responsibly. It means a government (the ministers appt by the GG) to be responsible to the Parliament and hence to the citizens, like being asked at work, ‘who are you responsible to?’, ie who’s your boss?
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Yes it appears to have started even sooner than we thought.
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
Was this planned?
SeeReport para 38:
"Apparently commencing from the Ministry
list dated 28 August 2018 (four days after Mr Morrison became Prime Minister),62 and certainly since 25 January 2019, that footer has stated:"
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PM Albanese says he will appoint someone with a “serious legal background” to run the inquiry, which will examine what happened & also recommend future steps. #auspol
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But the Solicitor-General has found the failure to make the 5 secret ministerial appointments public was not “responsible government”. #auspol
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The Solicitor-General has found the then PM Scott Morrison was validly appointed to 5 other portfolios but that some implications require further examination. #auspol
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BREAKING: PM Albanese confirms Cabinet has decided to hold a formal inquiry into former PM Morrison’s secret ministries. #auspol
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Not this way it hasn’t. Better pull your 🤡 out of your r👂😁😉
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton and @InsidersABC
Shock horror, a PM over-ruled a Minister?
You're joking. That's never happened before.
Journalists live in 
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It stands for the fact that the other handle wasn’t available! 😁
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton and @karenmiddleton
What does the first M stand for?
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😉 (l know)
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton and @InsidersABC
No he’s on in the gag. It’s a joke tweet
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Just fyi, my Twitter handle has an extra M in it. The version without belongs to a lovely, long suffering Karen Middleton in the US. Hi & thanks for always redirecting the mail. 🙏🏻 #alwaysconfusedforsomebodyelse
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Replying to @peterjameswills and @KarenMMiddleton
And @samanthamaiden admiring your & @KarenMiddleton ’s patience enduring this consistent error
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Precisely the question. See yesterday’s tweets.
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
What would have happened in the case of PEP11 if Pitt had signed a different decision, granting the license? Two legally-valid, yet contradictory orders...
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Give @KarenMMiddleton her own #insiders. She’s more brilliant this time than ever!
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He wasn’t ‘sworn in’. He was appointed by GG’s letter. They were both minister at the same time, neither with superior power over the other. And therein lies the problem.
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
Is there a swearing-out process? What stops a minister being a minister. Was Morrison sworn in as joint minister ?so many questions
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Barnaby Joyce says on that Scott Morrison told him he’d overruled the Resources Minister on the PEP11 decision in 2021 but didnt mention that he did it by seizing ongoing power over the whole portfolio. Joyce didn’t ask what power he used & wasnt curious. #insiders
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News flash. We should.
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Replying to @LucyTurnbull_AO @KarenMMiddleton and @SatPaper
news flash: ordinary people really don't give a fuck.
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It may be resolved by something as simple as the order in which they’re taken. But l’m not sure yet. 🤷🏻♀️
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
A potentially serious problem. An excellent point @KarenMMiddleton
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Slightly different scenario bc they aren’t exercising identical decision making power in the same issue. They are alternatives for each other but until now it’s been one at a time. Having said that, it’s one of the (many) things to be clarified.
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
Karen, does this issue arise at the moment in respect of powers exercised by more than one minister (e.g. where there are junior ministers)? How is it resolved there?
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And legality is still open question - surface cover by s64 of Constitution but less clear down in the weeds. Eg. 2 ministers had equal decision making power re PEP11, drawn from the same Act. Neither superior to the other, yet 1 claimed greater authority. - how’s that resolved?
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Thank you @KarenMMiddleton for this clear account. Problem is that even if the secret ministries were not ‘illegal’ in a narrow sense, they trashed and breached our democratic practices and conventions — #OurVulnerableDemocracy thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/ via @SatPaper
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Yep. I’ve written about that before.
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Replying to @SatPaper and @KarenMMiddleton
Extraordinary! ‘.. a cabinet office policy committee with himself as its only member, a device he used to cover meetings with “cabinet-in-confidence” secrecy.’
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Thing is, he didn’t do it as the Prime Minister. He did it as the (co-)Minister for Resources. As such, his authority is no greater than Keith Pitt’s. They are the same, with differing views, making opposing decisions. How can one prevail over the other? Creates a problem, no?
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Replying to @Jeanett78434655 @TurnbullMalcolm and @ScottMorrisonMP
When he announced the gas project. He said he did it as Prime Minister and he has the power to do that. However we were meant to guess that meant he held the resource portfolio. I’m sure he has said this on a few occasions.
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No. No extra remuneration. Power is your answer. The question is, for what purpose?
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
Are there financial benefits or superannuation benefits from holding multiple ministries. Was he milking us? Can’t see any other reason.
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I don’t think so.
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Replying to @Anfo34061196 @IronBandicoot and 3 others
I think Josh ABSOLUTELY knew !!!!
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Twas simple appointment letter from GG giving Morrison, already an exec councillor, authority in the new portfolio. Certain ministers are delegated ECs, meaning they’re on a roster to go out to Govt House & present the various docs & legislation to GG needing sign off. PM chairs.
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Replying to @KarenMMiddleton
Karen, what does that mean in layman's terms? And was the a) the essential path, or b) a chosen path with implications such as greater power/other? Many thanks for helping us to understand!
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This be at the heart of the problem with the situation that was created.
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@KarenMMiddleton can you explain which Minister, Morrison or Pitt, is the final decision maker? Could Pitt have over-ruled Morrison?
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